McClellan gets ready to don its civvies.(McClellan Air Force Base, California)(Statistical Data Included)

Once viewed as an economic catastrophe, the loss of Sacramento's military installations has provided prime locations for the expanding private-sector economy

The end of the Cold War sent a chill through Sacramento's economy by prompting the closure of all three local military bases.

The closures meant roughly 22,000 civilian jobs would be lost between the shuttering of Mather Air Force Base in 1993 and the pending closure of McClellan Air Force Base in July 2001.

Despite dire claims that the losses would darken Sacramento's business landscape for many years, the robust Sacramento economy saw tremendous job growth during the past decade -- enough growth to cancel the impact of the closures.

Now, two of the three bases have been converted to private business parks and the third is starting the same transformation. They are seen as economic assets, offering thousands of acres of …